Where is the Loo!?

Ever go into a bar or restuarant? Then you probably have had to ask the question! "Where is the restroom? The answers are usually simple & the doors leading to them are pretty mundane.....or are they?! Here are a few I found amusing!

This "SEA" inspired pair can be found at the "Tahitian Bar" at the Sheraton Waipouli in Kapa'a Kauai!

Aww, Classic Americana....this was found in downtown Sonoma, Ca at "The Girl & the Fig" restuarant.

Ken & Barbie

So don't hold out on me, if you have some funny ones to share, send them my way...I think I've just started a strange collection!

Where ELSE Does The Money Go?!

Happy faces eating Gelato in Poipu!

These costs are based on a family of 5 eating for a week. This is where we spent the most money, even though we tried being good about it! We did have friends host us for dinner at their timeshare on one night & we returned the favor & hosted for them also.

*Safeway food $38.47 Breakfast items
*Safeway food for pool/hotel day $39.36
*Safeway food to go for Kayak Day $35.74
*Safeway, groceries for dinner + 3 guests $79.97
* Dinner $33.33 (w/plenty of leftovers for lunch the next day!), Panda Express
* Dinner $85.00, Poipu Tropical Burger in Poipu
* Dinner in Hanalei, Bubba Burgers $25
* Dinner in Kapa’a $147.00, Coconut Island Grill

Jordan's Salmon Meal at Coconut Island Grill in Kapa'a

*Dinner at Tahitian Bar & Grill, at our resort, $70
* Lunch $76.00 (& not very good!) Kalapaki Joes
*Lunch $60 (Excellent!), The Lodge at Kokee
*Lunch inside Coconut Market place, the pizza stand, $27 for one lg. pizza & water bottles
*Lunch at Tahitian bar & Grill, 2 tapas plates & 2 drinks $35
*Lunch at Sueoka Snack shop in Koloa Town, YUMMY! $23
*Lunch at Harvey’s inside Coconut Market Place, very inexpensive chicken skewers! $1.50 each!
*Dessert at Lapperts in Koloa Town, $20 (I had the Island Sensation & was not disappointed!
*Dessert at Papalani Gelato in Poipu, $18
*Bar Tab at our hotel was $70 (& we even brought our own stuff from home!)
*Airport food on the way home, $38.06
*Drive thru on the way home from the airport at 11:00pm was $22.75 but it was In-and Out so it was PRICELESS!!

Spiders in Kauai?! Now this is where I have to share a funny story!

Our eldest daughter is very frightened of spiders and freaks when she even sees a web! Walking thru our resort, we noticed a web above our heads leading into our building. The web was huge but we never saw the spider who owned it. She walked the long way around it each day! In our parking lot, we noticed a similar web in some of the flower bushes. Upon closer inspection, we saw a very large ugly spider sitting right In the middle of it. The spider was unique in that it seemed to spin a “zig-zag” stitch about 1-2 inches on either side of it’s resting spot within the web. The spider itself was about 3-4 inches from leg to leg, brown and white with a large fuzzy body that looked like it could be the center of a flower, with bits of yellow on it. I zoomed in & took my “Nat-geo” pic!

A few days later, while kayaking on Hanalei River, our friend noted that she enjoyed hiking on Kauai so much because it lacked snakes & she never saw spiders. It was at this time that we had pulled our kayaks into the shade of the banks near the Hanalei Bridge. My husband had asked me to gently tie our rope to a twig so we wouldn’t drift off. I did that as we were having this conversation & I told her I had a very good picture of a spider that she would never want to see up close anywhere! I pulled out the camera and began to search for the shot. In the meantime, I hadn’t noticed that my kayak had become untied & we were drifting ever so slowly closer to the banks & the hanging plants. For some reason, I happened to look up & found myself literally inches away, eye level from one of those huge, ugly spiders!!!

What was the spider from Hell doing in Kauai anyway??

The Kayak was leading me right to it! You have never seen a full grown person flatten themselves down so quickly, all while I was screaming my head off, spoiling the peace & quiet for any other kayakers nearby. The rest of my group was laughing hysterically while my husband tried in vain to pull us away from the shore as I had become helpless & thrown my paddle into the water and was literally trying to slither my flattened body off of our kayak & onto my children’s kayak! After that, I insisted we stay in the center of the river, no more shade stops for us! I only wish someone had their video camera going because I know it would have made the cut on America’s funniest videos! Aww. vacation memories, gotta love them, even if the laugh is on you!

My Personal List of favorites on Kauai!

Make sure to visit this Bubba Burgers in Hanalei, their shakes and hot dogs are cheap AND good!

Favorite Drink: Tahitian tai Chi at Tahitian Bar & Grill, Outrigger Waipouli in Kapa’a
Favorite Beach: Hanalei Bay
Favorite Lunch: Chicken Skewers at Harvey’s In Coconut market Place, Kapa’a
Favorite Dinner: (For Service) Coconuts in Kapa’a (for view) Tahitian Bar & Grill, Outrigger Waipouli In Kapa’a
Favorite place for Dessert: Lappert’s Ice cream in Koloa Town
Favorite hot dog place: Bubba Burgers in Hanalei
Favorite Hearty meal: Koke’e Lodge
Favorite place for jewelry shopping: South China Trading Co. in Kapa’a (Local Sea Glass!)
Favorite surf shops: All of them in Hanalei
Favorite cheap trinket shop: ABC In the safeway shopping center, Kapa’a
Best advice received: To go past mile marker 18 on the Road to Waimea until the very end!
Best advice I didn’t listen to: to take only ½ of what I pack, I always thing I will adhere but don’t & end up wearing way less than I brought!
Traffic: The volume of it was not an issue for us as we live in So. Cal but the speed of it (or lack there of) was something else! Either people were going super slow or they were going super fast, we never could quite catch the rhythm!
Bugs: Never saw any biting us , used bug spray but we definitely had little bites here and there…nothing more than we would get here at home on a summer night outdoors.

Everyone can do it!

They at least looked good trying to paddle together!

We came up to the North shore again to go kayaking on Hanalei River. We called in advance but were told no reservations would be required. We rented 2 triple kayaks & 1 double kayak for our group of 8. The Kayak shop we used is the first one after the Hanalei Bridge, next to the “Blue Dolphin Restaurant”. It was $64 for a triple kayak that you could take up the river or down to the bay, just not OUT of the bay! (Also, they had great bikini's here for unbeleivable prices & our teen daughters ended up buying two for under $25 TOTAL!) We got on the water by 10:30am & it wasn’t crowded at all. There were other people on the river but not too many. This is an excursion that is definitely fun for all ages so I would consider it for yourself if you haven’t done so already! The views were stunning with overgrown banks of lush vegitation, not to mention the water was clear & warm!

View from the front of our Kayak!


We had our two teen daughters & their friend on one triple Kayak, John, myself & Paige on the 2nd triple Kayak and our friends Ruth & Jay on a double. Even without any previous experience, we all seemed to handle the meandering Hanalei River quite easily...well, except for that whole directional thing with our paddle!! Thank goodness for strong men at this juncture, lol! Seriously, it made for some great fun to watch the girls try to paddle in unison and not run into the banks or other kayakers & I was just thankful that John was compensating for any of my own mistakes! We did have one very memorable "incident" while kayaking, but it's so good, it deserves it's own special post in a day or two!